Praying Scripture: For the Brokenhearted and Exhausted

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          Prayer for the Brokenhearted and Exhausted
            Psalm 34:17-18:  “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
            Matthew 11:28-30:  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
            1 Peter 5:6-7:  “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
            Romans 8:28:  “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
            Lord, I am crying out to You right now.  I am brokenhearted and I need You.  You promise to save those who are crushed in spirit.  You promise to lighten my burden and to help my soul find rest.  I need that right now.  Please, help me find rest for my soul. 
            I am falling down before You right now, weary and exhausted.  I cannot keep carrying the burdens I have been carrying, and so I am putting them down at Your feet right now.  Help me learn what Your yoke is - the jobs and responsibilities that You want for me, not the more burdensome ones that I place on myself.  Help me to let go of my heavier and harder yoke so that I can take up Your lighter and easier one instead. 
            In fact, I realize now that even the depression and anxiety and fear are burdens that I have been carrying around, and they have become too crushing for me to carry anymore.  And so I am putting them down now.  I cannot bear those burdens any longer and I am giving them to You.     
            Lord, I admit that I have been trying to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders, but it’s too much for me.  And it never was my responsibility to begin with.  And so I am putting the responsibilities that are not mine back into Your hands and asking You to take care of the things that I can’t take care of.  I am humbling myself before You, admitting that You are God and I am not.  I cannot keep trying to do Your job.  And please forgive me for doing so. 
            I cannot carry the world’s problems or anyone else’s problems.   I cannot even carry my own problems by myself.  I am not big enough or strong enough.  But You are.  And so I am trusting in Your wisdom and Your capable hands to carry all these problems and to help me through mine.  I am getting off of Your throne and humbling myself at Your feet and asking You to lift me up again when it is time. 
            I trust that You really do care for me and that You can handle my concerns, and so I give You all of my anxieties right now and ask You to fix them in Your time and in Your way.  (Maybe list each anxiety right now, on paper or out loud.)  Thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness and for being able to handle the things that I can’t, for promising to work good things out of all the messes in life.  Please, just put Your arms around me right now and give me Your comfort.  Tell me that You are with me and that it will be okay.
            In Jesus's name, Amen

                


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